News

A shaver socket is the only kind of socket the UK wiring regulations allow close to a bath or shower, and even then it has to be the right type. A proper shaver supply unit can go outside the zones...

Yes, you can have an electric towel rail in a bathroom in the UK, and it is one of the few electrical items the wiring regulations specifically allow close to the bath or shower. The rail itself can go in...

A kitchen is not a special location under UK electrical regulations, and it has not been one in England since 6 April 2013. Adding or moving a socket in a kitchen is not notifiable work. Installing a new circuit for...

An outdoor socket is one of the most useful additions you can make to a house, and one of the easiest to get wrong. Three things decide whether the job is done properly: whether the work needs notifying to building...

Polished and brushed are not two different metals, they are two different surface finishes applied to the same metal. Polished is buffed to a mirror shine. Brushed is finely abraded to a soft, matt sheen. That single difference changes how...

Every home has the same problem: more things to charge than places to charge them. There are two ways to fix it. Replace the wall socket with one that has USB ports built in, or plug an adapter into the...

We are delighted to announce that West Base Direct is now an authorised distributor of Milwaukee, one of the most trusted names in professional power tools. This means our customers can now buy the full Milwaukee range with complete confidence,...

Turning your house into a smart home no longer requires a huge budget or a complete renovation. Thanks to a growing range of affordable, easy to fit devices, anyone can add a touch of intelligence to their living space, whether...

If you have started building a smarter home, you have probably come across two terms that sound almost identical: smart sockets and smart plugs. They are often mentioned in the same breath, and many shoppers assume they are simply two...